The Poison Thread by Laura Purcell
I started this novel on Saturday and found myself sucked into the story very quickly. Laura Purcell's second offering (after The Silent Companions) is one heck of a ride, combining a Dickensian atmosphere with elements of a horror novel, a thriller, and of women caught in the rigid structure of early Victorian rules and expectations. I simply couldn't put it down. There are two main characters: Dorothea Truelove, a young, wealthy woman approaching her 25th birthday, and Ruth Butterham, a young woman imprisoned and waiting trial for murder. Dorothea visits prisons to offer comfort to incarcerated women, and it also gives her a chance to explore her obsession with phrenology: a study of human behavior traits expressed through the shape of the skull. Yes, if you have bumps in a certain location, or your skull is shaped a certain way, it shouts to the world exactly who you are: a deep thinker? A worrier? A murderer? Ruth's story is just plain awful. Only sixteen, she's liv